A large number of people visited a Unicef-sponsored exhibition of children's photos in New York on Thursday evening that marked the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Pakistan.
The photographs were taken by 160 children from the region to document their lives following the disaster. Called EYE SEE II, the project was conceived to empower children who have returned to their villages.
Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan's UN Ambassador Munir Akram thanked the United Nations system, including Unicef, for all the help extended to Pakistan in its relief and rehabilitation efforts for the quake survivors. The children of Pakistan would long remember Unicef's help in rebuilding their lives, he said. Pakistan's Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar, who especially flew in here, was also present at the exhibition.
In her introductory remarks, Unicef Executive Director Ann Veneman said, "This project has given children an opportunity to show us through photographs their experience of the earthquake and the impact it has had on their lives."
Through the images, the children illustrated what they saw as the most important daily activities in their return to some semblance of normality. "Women of all houses daily go to fetch water. I saw my neighbour going to collect water and I took her photograph," wrote one young participant.
"These children, the survivors of the earthquake, are not only living through the long healing process, but have now been able to share some of that through photography," said Pulitzer Prize winning photographer and advisory board member John Moore.
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